Trinidad and Tobago edge Guyana in final round for title
..Candidate Master Taffin Khan remained unbeaten in the competition

CANDIDATE Master Taffin Khan was the last man standing for Guyana as he ended his CARICOM Classic Chess Tournament Campaign unbeaten but
Guyana had to settle for silver when the competition concluded on Saturday at the Ramada Princess hotel

Guyana senior chess team suffered its only loss in round 9 to Trinidad and Tobago after going undefeated in the competition, with its only other blemishes being draws against Jamaica and Barbados earlier in the competition.
Trinidad and Tobago finished with 18 points for the championship trophy
after playing undefeated throughout the team competition.

Guyana copped second place with 14 points with Barbados settling for third.
Guyana’s youth team also finished strong with wins in round 9 over Dominica and Cayman Islands in round 8 to finish the tournament in 9th place after a tough outing.
CM Taffin Khan had his toughest battle in the final round against Fide Master Joshua Johnson

Khan using the white pieces carefully manoeuvred his pieces for advantage but both players went all the way to the endgame.
The clash was poised with equal material of Rook, Bishop and Pawns remaining on the board. The Trinidadian and Guyanese then agreed to avoid further risk and emerged with half a point each from the truce to give Guyana the ½ point for the match as T&T won 3 ½ to ½ point for the title.

The other 9th round battles for the senior Guyana side, saw them unable to hold their own against the team from the Twin Island Republic.
Anthony Drayton went down to Quinn Cabralis, Women Candidate Master Ysvett Hermoso defeated Jessica Callender and Zara La Fleur beat Shazeeda Rahim from Guyana.
In round 8 Guyana senior side dispatched Dominica 4-0.

The inaugural CARICOM classic competition also saw representative teams from Jamaica, Suriname, Bahamas, Dominica and Saint Lucia.
The Trinidad team collected US$1,500 with US$1, 000 for Guyana and US$500 for Barbados in third with trophies and medals.
The tournament was sponsored by ExxonMobil, Texila American University, Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, E-net and the CARICOM
Secretariat and organised by the Guyana Chess Federation.